911 call assistance for assisted device user

ABSTRACT

A system and method for use with an assisted user&#39;s communication device that includes a display. The method includes providing a user communication device including a processor that is programmed to perform the step of, upon disconnection of an emergency call to a hearing user in which a captioning service has provided text transcription of voice messages from the hearing user, maintaining a link to the captioning service for a predetermined period of time. The processor also is programmed to perform the step of recognizing the call as an emergency call upon placement of the call, and the captioning service is automatically initiated upon the processor performing that recognition.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/732,894, filed Jan. 2, 2020, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,771,604on Sep. 8, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/008,683, filed Jun. 14, 2018, and issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,542,131 on Jan. 21, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/145,449, filed May 3, 2016, and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,021,229 on Jul. 10, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/571,894, filed Dec. 16, 2014, and issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 9,350,857 on May 24, 2016. U.S. application Ser. No.16/008,683 also is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/950,860, filed Jul. 25, 2013, and issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,587,751 on Mar. 10, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/686,688, filed Jan. 13, 2010, and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 8,515,024 on Aug. 20, 2013. The contents of all of thepreceding are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication devices for deaf and hardof hearing or assisted user and more specifically to concepts related to911 or other types of emergency calls for providing captioning servicesto assisted communication device users.

Phones have been developed that provide captioning services to deaf orhard of hearing persons (e.g., hereafter “assisted users”). To this end,when a hearing user and an assisted user are participating in a voicetelephone call, when the hearing user speaks, the hearing user's voiceis transmitted to a remote relay where the hearing user's voice istranslated into text. The text is transmitted to the assisted user'sdevice where the text is displayed for the assisted user to view,generally at the same time that the hearing user's voice is broadcast tothe assisted user to hear.

Some assisted user devices have been developed that can be used aseither a regular telephone without text captioning or as a textcaptioned phone based on preference of an assisted user. These phonesare particularly useful for assisted user's that are not completely deafand that therefore may want captioning some of the time but not all ofthe time. For instance, a specific assisted user may be able to hear afirst hearing user's voice well but not a second hearing user's voicewhere the first and second hearing user's have distinctly differenttones. Devices that can be used as either regular phones or captionedphones are also particularly useful where one or more non-assisted userslive with an assisted user and do not need or desire a captioningservice.

One issue that has come up with devices that can optionally be used asconventional telephones as well as captioned devices is that assisteduser's desire the ability to turn captioning services on and off duringan ongoing voice telephone call with a hearing user. For instance, anassisted user may start a call with captioning initially turned off.During the call, the assisted user may start to have difficulty makingout a hearing user's voice and therefore may desire to turn on acaptioning service. For this reason devices have been developed thatenable an assisted user to turn on captioning during an ongoing voicecall. In this regard see U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,835 entitled “System ForText Assisted Telephony” which issued on Aug. 5, 2003 and which isincorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

In addition to providing a solution to a preference of at least someassisted users, the optional captioning feature has reduced the overallcost associated with using relays to provide captioning when needed. Tothis end, instead of always providing the captioning service, captioningis only provided when needed and affirmatively selected by an assisteduser.

In addition to being useful for communicating with hearing users undernormal circumstances, assisted user devices are also useful forcommunicating in emergency situations. For instance, an assisted userdevice is usable to initiate a 911 emergency call at any time so that anassisted user can receive captioning during an emergency call. In thecase of devices usable as both a conventional telephone and optionallyas a captioning device, in order to expedite captioning service when anemergency occurs and a 911 call is initiated by an assisted user,devices have routinely been set up to automatically provide captioningupon call initiation instead of requiring an affirmative step to startcaptioning. Thus, when an assisted user dials 911, captioning isautomatically initiated regardless of whether or not the assisted useraffirmatively selects captioning.

While automatic captioning upon dialing 911 is useful, unfortunately, inuse, this feature can cause some confusion. For instance, for anassisted user that is used to selecting the captioning option each timethe assisted user places a non-emergency call, the natural inclinationupon placing a 911 call is to select the captioning option after dialing911 despite the fact that captioning is automatically initiated upondialing 911. The effect of selecting the captioning button after theautomatic initiation of captioning is to turn off captioning, the exactopposite of the user's intention. When captioning goes off instead of onas intended upon assisted user selection, the off state can causeadditional confusion for an assisted user and hamper communicationduring an emergency 911 call.

Often 911 calls are disrupted for various reasons and a connection tocomplete a call has to be re-established. For this reason, when a 911call is received by an operator, the operator's communication systemtypically automatically obtains and stores a call back number for thephone used to initiate the 911 call so that, if premature disconnectionoccurs, the operator can initiate a call back to the phone used to placethe original call.

One other problem associated with 911 calls is that, upon a call backafter premature 911 disconnection, an assisted user may become moreflustered when the call is answered if the call back is simply treatedas a conventional non-emergency telephone call without captioning.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has been recognized that confusion associated with manual selectionof captioning (e.g., a mechanical or virtual caption button) afterautomatic captioning upon initiating an emergency call can be avoidedby, in effect, disregarding any caption controlling selection action forat least a short period after a 911 call is initiated. For instance,upon an assisted user initiating a 911 call captioning may automaticallybe commenced and a timer may be started to count out a time out period(e.g., 15 seconds). During the time out period, any selection of acaption button or selection tool will not result in any action relatedto the captioning service. Here, the time out period should be selectedto have a duration that is long enough for the assisted user torecognize that the captioning service has been activated. At the end ofthe timeout period, in at least some embodiments, the assisted user oranother user may select the caption button, if desired, to turn off thecaption service or may choose to allow the service to continue.

In some embodiments, in addition to effectively disabling the captionbutton from being used to discontinue captioning during the time outperiod, a processor in the assisted user device may be programmed toprovide a message via a display screen and/or to audibly indicate to theassisted user or another person near the assisted user device thatcaptioning is on. When the message is provided via display, the messagemay either be presented immediately when a 911 call is commenced or onlyafter a 911 call is commenced and the caption button has been selected.The message may only persist for a portion of the duration of the timeout period or may persist for the entire duration of the period. Themessage may simply indicate that captioning is on or may includeadditional information such as a timer counting down the duration of thetime out period or further instructions that the time out period willend shortly at which point captioning can be turned off if the user sodesires.

In some embodiments captioning may be automatically turned on and lefton at all times during a 911 call without the ability to turn captioningoff. In this case a message may be provided to the device user thatcaptioning will remain on during the entire 911 call irrespective ofselection of the caption button.

In at least some embodiments appearance of a caption button may bealtered to indicate whether or not selection of the button will affectcaptioning during a 911 call. For instance, a caption button may be backilluminated using a white colored LED to indicate that captioning is offbut can be turned on by selection of the caption button to commencecaptioning. When captioning is on, the button may be back illuminatedvia a green colored LED. Wen captioning is on but the button cannot beselected to turn captioning off, the button may be back illuminated viaa red colored LED or may not be illuminated at all.

In embodiments where a touch screen or other display screen is used toprovide a virtual caption controlling button, the virtual button may beremoved during the time out period at the beginning of a 911 call or itsappearance may be altered during the time out period. For instance, theappearance may follow the white, green and red code described above inconjunction with changing the appearance of a mechanical caption button.

Where a return call is made to an assisted user device after anemergency call is inadvertently or prematurely disconnected, in at leastsome embodiments, an assisted user device processor may be programmed tomaintain a link to a relay operator or call assistant for a time outperiod (e.g., 1 to 2 minutes) after the initial emergency call is cutoff so that captioning can commence immediately upon commencement of acall back call from an emergency operator. Here, captioning may beautomatically started again for at least a time out period (e.g. 15seconds) after the return call commences to avoid any confusion thatcould occur from an assisted user attempting to select captioning oncethe return call starts and may continue until de-selected by an assisteduser or for the entire duration of an emergency call.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described. The followingdescription and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certainillustrative aspects of the invention. However, these aspects areindicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principles ofthe invention can be employed. Other aspects, advantages and novelfeatures of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description of the invention when considered in conjunctionwith the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary communicationsystem including an assisted user's text captioning device that isconsistent with at least some aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating components of the assisteduser's device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display screen and acaption selection button from the assisted user's device in FIG. 1 thatis consistent with at least some aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a process that may be performed by the processor shown in FIG.2 to maintain automated captioning upon initiation of an emergency call;and

FIG. 5 is a is a process that may be performed by the processor shown inFIG. 2 to initiate automated captioning upon call back to an assisteduser after an emergency call has been disconnected.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The various aspects of the subject invention are now described withreference to the annexed drawings, wherein like reference numeralscorrespond to similar elements throughout the several views. It shouldbe understood, however, that the drawings and detailed descriptionhereafter relating thereto are not intended to limit the claimed subjectmatter to the particular form disclosed. Rather, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter.

As used herein, the terms “component,” “system” and the like areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being,a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable,a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a computer and the computercan be a component. One or more components may reside within a processand/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers or processors.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals correspondto similar elements throughout the several view and, more specifically,referring to FIG. 1, the present invention will be described in thecontext of an exemplary communication system 10 including, among othercomponents, an assisted user's communication device 12, a hearing user'scommunication device 14 and a computer or system 16 used by a relayoperator to assist an assisted user in communicating with a hearinguser. The assisted user's device 12 may be linked via a telephone line30 to the hearing user's device 14 to facilitate a voice telephone callbetween an assisted user and a hearing user. To this end, referring alsoto FIG. 2, an exemplary assisted user device 12 includes a processor 20,a speaker 24, a microphone 26, a keyboard 27 and a telephone link 30. Inat least some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the speaker andmicrophone 24 and 26, respectively, may be provided in a conventionaltelephone handset that an assisted user can hold up to the user's earand mouth during communication.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the exemplary hearing user's device 14 isshown as a telephone including a keyboard 40 and a handset 42 that wouldinclude, among other components, a speaker and a microphone that are notseparately labeled. In other embodiments, the hearing user's device mayinclude other types of communication devices such as, for instance, acellular telephone, a smart phone, or any other type of telephone orcommunication device. The telephone link 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 maybe a conventional telephone line or any other type of communication linkincluding but not limited to the internet, another network connection, awireless connection, etc. To place a call from the assisted user'sdevice 12 to the hearing user's device 14, an assisted user may pick upthe handset 24/26 and simply dial a telephone number associated with thehearing user's device 14 using keyboard 27. During a voice communicationwith a hearing user, the assisted user's voice is transmitted by device12 via line 30 to device 14. Similarly, a hearing user's voice istransmitted along line 30 to device 12 and is broadcast via the speaker24 in the handset of device 12 to the ear of the assisted user.

When an assisted user has difficulty hearing voice messages broadcastvia speaker 24 from the hearing user, the assisted user can initiate acaptioning service whereby the voice messages of the hearing user aretranscribed into text and presented to the assisted user via theassisted user's device 12 substantially simultaneously with broadcast ofthe hearing user's voice messages. To this end, referring again to FIGS.1 and 2, assisted user's device 12 also includes a display 22 and arelay link 28. Referring also to FIG. 3, when an assisted user is havingdifficulty hearing a hearing user's voice messages, the assisted usercan select a caption button 25 or other type of control (e.g., a virtualbutton provided via display 22) on the assisted user's device 12. Whencaption button 25 is selected, processor 20 in the assisted user'sdevice 12 connects via link 28 to the relay 16 and provides the hearinguser's voice messages to the relay 16. The link 28 may be any type oflink including a conventional telephone line, an internet or othernetwork type link, a wireless link, etc.

At the relay 16, the hearing user's voice messages are transcribed intotext and the text is transmitted back to the assisted user's device 12via link 28 or a third communication link and the transcribed text ispresented to the assisted user via display 22. To this end, see FIG. 3where exemplary transcribed text 33 is shown. The voice to textconversion or transcription at relay 16 may be automated, partiallyautomated or facilitated via a call assistant that listens to thehearing user's voice messages and either types or revoices or both typesand revoices the voice messages to transcribe the text as known in theart.

Referring again to FIG. 2, in at least some embodiments of the presentinvention, when the assisted user device 12 is used to initiate anemergency call by dialing 911 or some other emergency telephone number,the captioning service may be automatically and immediately initiatedinstead of requiring an affirmative selection of the captioning serviceby the assisted user in order to expedite the emergency call. Here, inat least some embodiments, an assisted user may be prohibited fromturning off the automated captioning for at least a short timeout period(e.g., 15 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) in order to avoid assisted userconfusion. To this end, referring yet again to FIG. 2, a timer 32 islinked to processor 20 for timing out a time out period. While timer 32is shown as a separate component in FIG. 2, it should be appreciatedthat the timer 32 may be provided via software stored in a processormemory or via some type of processor timer hardware.

Where captioning is automatically turned on when an emergency call isinitiated, the processor 20 may also be programmed to provide some typeindication to an assisted user that captioning has been automaticallyturned on. To this end, as shown in FIG. 2 and also FIG. 3, one or moreLEDs or other light emitting devices 31 may be provided for illuminatingor otherwise visually distinguishing the caption selection button 25 toindicate automated captioning. For instance, when captioning is turnedon, button 25 may be back illuminated via a green LED. When captioningis on and cannot be turned off turning the timeout period, a red LED maybe used to back illuminate the caption button 25. Here, greenillumination may indicate captioning has automatically been turned onbut that captioning can be turned off, for instance, after a timeoutperiod elapses. A white LED may illuminate button 25 when captioning isoff but can be turned on manually by and assisted user selecting button25.

In other embodiments, referring to FIG. 3, a text message may beprovided via display screen 22 when captioning is automatically turnedon. For instance, in FIG. 3, the text “Captioning is on” 180 is shown inlarge bold letters to indicate, upon initiation of an emergency call,that captioning has automatically been turned on. In addition, in atleast some embodiments, other information such as instructions thatcaptioning may be turned off if desired at a specific time (see 182 inFIG. 3) may be provided via display

Referring now to FIG. 4, a method 100 that may be performed by processor20 in FIG. 2 is shown. Referring also go FIGS. 1-3, at process block102, processor 20 sets a timeout timer to zero. Here, unless indicatedotherwise, it will be assumed that a timeout period has been set to 15seconds. At process block 104, an assisted user uses device 12 toinitiate a telephone call to some hearing user. At decision block 105,processor 20 determines whether or not the initiated call is anemergency call. To this end, in at least some embodiments, processor 20may determine whether or not the assisted user has dialed “911” toinitiate an emergency call.

Where the assisted user has not initiated an emergency call, controlpasses to decision block 106 where device 12 operates to facilitate annon-emergency communication with a hearing user using the called device14. In this regard, at block 106, processor 20 determines whether or notcaptioning has been turned on. If captioning has not been turned on,control passes down to block 116 where processor 20 monitors fordisconnection of the call. Where the call is disconnected, controlpasses back up to block 102 where the process continues to cycle. Atblock 116, if the call has not been disconnected, control passes back upto block 106 where processor 20 continues to monitor for selection ofthe caption button 25 (see again FIG. 3).

Referring still to FIG. 4, at block 106, if captioning is manuallyturned on by selection of button 25, control passes down to block 108where processor 20 links to relay 16 and captioning is provided at block110. At block 112, processor 20 monitors for selection of button 25indicating that captioning should be turned off. If button 25 is notselected at block 112, control passes to block 113 where processor 20determines whether or not the call has been disconnected. Where the callis not disconnected, control passes back up to block 110 wherecaptioning is continually provided. If the call is disconnected at block113, control passes back up to block 102 where the process describedabove and hereafter continues to cycle. At block 112, if captioning isturned off, control passes to block 114 where processor 20 disconnectsfrom relay 16 so that captioning ceases after which control passes toblock 116.

Referring still to FIG. 4, at block 105, if the initiated call is anemergency call, control passes to block 120 where a link to relay 16 isautomatically initiated. At block 122 processor 20 starts the timeouttimer. At block 124, processor 20 determines whether or not the timeoutperiod is completed. Where the timeout period (e.g., 15 second in thepresent example) is completed, control passes from block 124 to block112 where the subprocess starting at block 112 described above occurs.At block 124, if the timeout period has not lapsed, control passes toblock 126 where processor 20 provides some indication to the assisteduser that captioning is already turned on via the assisted user's device12. To this end, see again FIG. 3 where caption button 25 may beilluminated or some message 180, 182, may be provided via display 22 toindicate that captioning is on. Continuing, after block 126, at block128, captioning is automatically provided via the assisted user's devicedisplay 22. After block 128, control loops back up to block 124 whereprocessor 20 continues to monitor the timeout period.

In some embodiments, instead of providing a timeout period after whichan assisted user can turn off captioning, captioning may remain onduring all 911 or other emergency calls. In addition, when an emergencycall is disconnected, in at least some embodiments, an assisted user'sdevice 12 may be programmed to stay in an automated captioning state forsome timeout period after disconnection such that if the assisted user'sdevice 12 receives any incoming phone call during the timeout period,captioning is automatically initiated. Here, for instance, if anemergency call is disconnected for some reason and an emergency operatorplaces a return call to an assisted user's device 12 within the timeoutperiod and the assisted user answers the returned call, captioning wouldbe initiated automatically. In at least some embodiments, whencaptioning is initiated automatically upon reception of a returned call,one or more indications may be presented to the assisted user via theassisted user's device indicating the automated captioning state asshown in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary process 140 for automaticallyinitiating captioning upon a return call during a timeout periodsubsequent to disconnection of an emergency call is illustrated.Referring also to FIGS. 1-3, at block 142, the assisted user's deviceprocessor 20 sets a timeout timer to zero. At block 144, an assisteduser uses device 12 to initiate a call to another party using hearinguser's device 14. At block 146, processor 20 determines whether or notthe initiated call is an emergency call. Where the call is not anemergency call, control passes to block 106 in FIG. 4 where the processdescribed above between blocks 106 and 116 occurs. At block 146, wherethe initiated call is an emergency call, control passes to block 148where assisted user's device 12 initiates the link on line 28 to relay16. At block 150, processor 20 indicates that captioning has beenautomatically turned on via some indication (see again FIG. 3) on theassisted user's device.

At block 152, relay 16 and processor 20 provide captioning to theassisted user via display 22. At block 154, processor 20 monitors fordisconnection of the call. Where the call is not disconnected, controlpasses back up to block 150 where the subprocess including blocks 150,152, and 154 continues to cycle.

Referring still to FIGS. 1-3 and FIG. 5, at block 154, if the emergencycall is disconnected, control passes to block 155 where device 12delinks from relay 16. At block 156 processor 20 starts a timeout timer.Here, the timeout timer may be substantially longer than the timeouttimer described above with respect to FIG. 4. For instance, in at leastsome embodiments, the timeout timer may time out a period of 30 secondsor greater. In some particularly advantageous embodiments, the timeouttimer may have a time out period of between 1 minute and 2 minutes inthe process 140 described with respect to FIG. 5.

At block 158, the processor 20 determines whether or not the timeoutperiod has been completed. Where the timeout period has been completed,control passes back up to block 142 where the process described abovecontinues to cycle. If the timeout period has not been completed atblock 158, control passes to block 160 where processor 20 determineswhether or not a call has been received at the assisted user's device12. At block 160, when a call has not been received at the assisteduser's device within the timeout period, control passes back up to block158. At block 160, if a call is received at the assisted user's deviceprior to the timeout period timing out, control passes back up to block148 where the link to the relay is again established and the processcontinues to cycle as described above.

In at least some embodiments, when an emergency call is disconnected, inaddition to initiating the timeout period at block 156, the link to therelay 16 may be maintained until the timeout period has been completedat block 158. By maintain the relay connection, in at least some casesit is possible that recall captioning may be expedited.

While two different processes are described with respect to FIGS. 4 and5, it should be appreciated that, in at least some embodiments, theprocesses may be combined so that, upon initiation of an emergency call,captioning is automatically and immediately commenced and continues fora first timeout period (e.g., 15 seconds) during which an assisted useris prohibited from turning off the captioning service and where, upondisconnection of an emergency call, if a recall occurs within a secondtimeout period (e.g., 2 minutes), captioning is again automatically andimmediately initiated upon commencement of the recall connection. Othermachinations of this combination are contemplated. For example, ifautomated captioning is turned off during an emergency call, the processby which automated captioning is turned on upon initiation of a recallmay not occur. In the alternative, automated captioning may befacilitated upon any emergency call or an associated recall after anemergency call has been disconnected regardless of whether or not anassisted user has turned off captioning during an initial emergencycall.

Instead of prohibiting an assisted user from stopping captioning, insome embodiments the device 12 processor 20 may instead be programmed toautomatically re-link and restart captioning automatically during a timeout period or at any time during an emergency call when an assisted userselects a caption button (e4.g., see again 25 in FIG. 3). By re-linkingand restarting captioning immediately during an emergency call uponselection of the caption button, the processor 20 automatically re-linksand starts captioning, albeit with a different call assistant. This isimportant because there are times when an assisted user may want to usea different call assistance as a function of the perceived quality ofcaptioning. By automatically restarting captioning with a different callassistant a user preference for a different call assistant can beaccommodated while still avoiding confusion for an assisted user fromdiscontinuing captioning during an emergency call.

In at least some embodiments it is contemplated that when an emergencyoperator calls an assisted user's device 12 after disconnection of acall, the relay operators system may be able to indicate to device 12that the calling device is associated with an emergency operator. Here,instead of timing out a time out period after a disconnection occurs,device 12 may always monitor calls for an emergency indication and maybe programmed to automatically start captioning when an emergency callback call is received and identified.

The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as theinvention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalentmanners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to thedetails of construction or design herein shown, other than as describedin the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particularembodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all suchvariations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention.Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claimsbelow.

Thus, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the following appended claims. For example,

What is claimed is:
 1. An assisted user's (AU's) captioning device forassisting an AU during a call with a hearing user (HU) wherein thehearing user uses a HU's communication device, the captioning devicecomprising: a display screen; a caption selector; and a processor linkedto the display screen and the caption selector, the processor programmedto perform the steps of: (i) upon initiation of an outgoing call fromthe captioning device, determining that the call is to one of a firstset of numbers or to a number that is not in the first set of numbers;(ii) when the call is to one of the first set of numbers, automaticallyinitiating captioning of the call wherein an HU voice signal during thecall is captioned; and (iii) when the call is to a number other than anumber in the first set of numbers, monitoring for activation of thecaption selector and only initiating captioning in response toactivation of the caption selector.
 2. The captioning device of claim 1further including presenting the captions of the HU voice signal via thedisplay screen.
 3. The captioning device of claim 1 wherein the firstset of numbers include emergency numbers.
 4. The captioning device ofclaim 1 wherein the step of initiating captioning includes establishinga communication link to a remote relay, transmitting the HU's voicesignal to the relay via the communication link and receiving captionscorresponding to the HU's voice signal back from the relay.
 5. Thecaptioning device of claim 1 further including a caption de-selector andwherein the processor is further programmed to, after initiation ofcaptioning, monitoring for activation of the caption de-selector anddeactivating captioning in response to activation of the de-selector. 6.The captioning device of claim 5 wherein a single selectable buttonoperates as both the caption selector and the caption de-selector wherea function of the button changes when the button is selected during acall.
 7. The captioning device of claim 5 wherein the processor disablesthe caption de-selector for a first duration subsequent to automaticallyinitiating captioning.
 8. The captioning device of claim 7 furtherincluding a visual indicator and wherein the processor controls thevisual indicator to indicate that captioning is on and cannot bedisabled during the first duration.
 9. The captioning device of claim 1further including a visual indicator and wherein the processor controlsthe visual indicator to indicate that captioning is on while captioningis activated.
 10. The captioning device of claim 1 wherein the captionselector includes a button and wherein the processor controls a visualappearance of the button to indicate when captioning is activated. 11.The captioning device of claim 10 wherein the button is a virtual onscreen button and wherein the processor controls button appearance attimes to also indicate a state in which captioning is on and cannot bede-activated.
 12. The captioning device of claim 11 wherein theprocessor also controls the button appearance to indicate a state attimes in which captioning is off but can be turned on via selection ofthe button.
 13. The captioning device of claim 1 wherein, whilecaptioning is activated, the processor enables an AU to disablecaptioning during some periods and does not enable an AU to disablecaptioning during other periods.
 14. The captioning device of claim 1wherein: the processor is further programmed to perform the steps of:(iv) upon receiving an incoming call from an HU's communication device,determining that the call is received within a first period of time orat a time that is not during the first period of time; (v) when the callis to during the first period of time, automatically initiatingcaptioning of the call wherein HU voice communications during the callare captioned; and (vi) when the call is at a time other than during thefirst period of time, monitoring for activation of the caption selectorand only initiating captioning in response to activation of the captionselector.
 15. The captioning device of claim 14 wherein the processor isfurther programmed to recognize emergency calls initiated via thecaptioning device and wherein the first period includes a period of timesubsequent to an end of a prior emergency call involving the captioningdevice and an emergency service provider.
 16. The captioning device ofclaim 1 wherein: the processor is further programmed to perform thesteps of: (iv) while an HU's voice signal is being captioned during anongoing call: (a) during at least a first period of time, disallowing anAU from disabling captioning; and (b) at times other than during thefirst period of time, enabling the AU to disable captioning.
 17. Thecaptioning device of claim 1 further including the step of, uponautomatically initiating captioning, presenting a message via thecaptioning device indicating that captioning has automatically beeninitiated.
 18. The captioning device of claim 17 further including, uponautomatically initiating captioning, blocking disabling of thecaptioning for at least a predetermined period of time.
 19. Thecaptioning device of claim 17 wherein the message is presented via thedisplay screen.
 20. The captioning device of claim 1 wherein, oncecaptioning is automatically initiated, the captioning cannot be turnedoff during the call.
 21. A captioning method for use with an assisteduser's (AU's) captioning device for assisting an AU during a call with ahearing user (HU) wherein the hearing user uses a HU's communicationdevice, the AU device including a display screen and a caption selector,the method comprising the steps of: (i) upon initiation of an outgoingcall from the captioning device, determining that the call is to one ofa first set of numbers or to a number that is not in the first set ofnumbers; (ii) when the call is to one of the first set of numbers,automatically initiating captioning of the call wherein HU voicecommunications during the call are captioned; and (iii) when the call isto a number other than a number in the first set of numbers, monitoringfor activation of the caption selector and only initiating captioning inresponse to activation of the caption selector.
 22. The captioningmethod of claim 21 further including presenting the captions of the HUvoice signal via the display screen.
 23. The captioning method of claim21 wherein the first set of numbers include emergency numbers.
 24. Thecaptioning method of claim 21 wherein the step of initiating captioningincludes establishing a communication link to a remote relay,transmitting the HU's voice signal to the relay via the communicationlink and receiving captions corresponding to the HU's voice signal backfrom the relay.
 25. The captioning method of claim 21 wherein thecaptioning device further includes a processor and a caption de-selectorand wherein the processor is further programmed to, after initiation ofcaptioning, monitoring for activation of the caption de-selector anddeactivating captioning in response to activation of the de-selector.26. The captioning method of claim 25 wherein a single selectable buttonoperates as both the caption selector and the caption de-selector wherea function of the button changes when the button is selected during acall.
 27. The captioning method of claim 25 further including the stepof disabling the caption de-selector for a first duration subsequent toautomatically initiating captioning.
 28. The captioning method of claim27 wherein the captioning device further includes a visual indicator andwherein the method further includes controlling the visual indicator toindicate that captioning is on and cannot be disabled during the firstduration.
 29. The captioning method of claim 21 wherein the captioningdevice further includes a visual indicator and wherein the methodfurther includes controls the visual indicator to indicate thatcaptioning is on while captioning is activated.
 30. The captioningmethod of claim 21 wherein the caption selector includes a button andwherein the method further includes controlling a visual appearance ofthe button to indicate when captioning is activated.
 31. The captioningmethod of claim 30 wherein the captioning device further includes aprocessor, wherein the button is a virtual on screen button, and whereinthe processor controls button appearance at times to also indicate astate in which captioning is on and cannot be de-activated.
 32. Thecaptioning method of claim 21 wherein, while captioning is activated,the method enables an AU to disable captioning during some periods anddoes not enable an AU to disable captioning during other periods.